Not a Chance
by iamburitto
Summary: Castle isn't as smooth as he thinks he is. Castle-Becket fluff! Slight Knockdown spoilers, beware.


It slowly inches across my desk, creeping past the stapler, sliding past my row of neatly ordered pencils arranged by size and color. Slipping past the coffee cup half full of my favorite sugary latte, it finally comes to rest two inches away from my left pinkie, and pauses. I'm trying my best to concentrate on the huge stack of paperwork in front of me, but it's hard to focus when I'm struggling not to laugh. He's casually lounging in what has over time become his chair, pretending to be engrossed in his iphone, even going so far as to attempt to have a serious and distracted face. I force myself to scribble a few more signatures on a form, but a few seconds later I sneak another look. Watching him out of the corner of my eye I see him pretending to text, while sneakily inching his hand one centimeter closer to mine. He's wearing a blue long sleeved button-up shirt that is just snug enough to emphasize his broad chest, and his hair is slightly messy. It's getting a little long, and his bangs hang partially over one eye. I can't help remembering how soft it felt when my fingers were running through it during that kiss. The kiss…even thinking about it for a second sets the pit of my stomach burning in a good way, making my heart beat a little faster. I mentally sigh.

It's been two weeks since that night, and I still don't know what to think about it. I swore to myself that I was over him when he came back from the Hamptons. After spending the whole summer with that annoying ache in my chest, and the painful image of him and Gina walking away with their arms around each other replaying in the back of my mind, I told myself I was done; it was just a crush. I've been telling myself that for months. Even after he came back, I convinced myself that it wasn't worth the risk of getting hurt like that again, not to mention ruining the best friendship I've ever had.

I've finally stopped being mad at him and started trusting him again, even with my mother's case, because I can't deny that he has been an amazing friend. He's proved to me over and over again how much he cares. I find it incredible how in-sync our thought processes are; when we're talking about the details of a case it's like we're laying out the pieces of a puzzle faster and faster, both of us knowing exactly which piece comes next. It's exhilarating to have someone know me so well. It's also scary, but I've been trying to open up and let him into my head a little more, because it's worth it to always have him watching my back. And though I hate to admit it, he's the best partner I could ask for; he proved that when he tackled that gunman and saved my life that night. The knuckles on his right hand are still healing from the beating he gave that dirtbag. I pride myself on being strong and independent, and normally I hate having anyone else take care of me, but it's different with him. I've found myself starting to like having someone to rely on.

I sneak another look at him, and feel the corners of my mouth lift against my will. He's still absentmindedly poking at his iphone with his lips pursed and his brow furrowed, trying very hard to look like he doesn't know that his hand is now less than a centimeter from my own. He's acting like a seventh grade boy with a crush. It's kind of adorable.

"Castle."

"Huh?" He jumps, looking slightly guilty. I notice his hand stays where it is.

"What are you doing?"

"Ummmm…tweeting?" In one quick movement I grab his phone, and he leaps out of his chair and lunges across my desk trying to get it back. I stand up and back out of the way. Esposito and Ryan are walking by looking amused, and I toss it over in Esposito's direction.

"Catch!"

His quick police reflexes allow him to smoothly snatch it out of midair, as he swiftly dodges Castle's attempt to tackle him. This causes Castle to slam into a very surprised looking Ryan who barely manages to stay standing. Ryan steadies him and grins.

"Wow", he says, "that Axe body spray really worked! Although not exactly the way I wanted it to…"

I snicker as Castle makes another dash for Esposito, who tosses the phone back to me and wrestles a squirming Castle to the ground, twisting his arms behind his back and sitting on him for good measure. Castle screams something muffled into the ground, and thrashes around pathetically. When Esposito lets him up a little he gasps for breath and turns his face in my direction, putting on a puppy dog face.

"Beckett please don't look at my phone!" I tilt my head to the side and tuck my hair behind my right ear, grinning widely.

"Why not Castle? Do you have something to hide?"

"Yes! I mean no! Just don't look at it!"

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"Because why?"

"Because I said so! Don't let her do it guys! Please?" His voice cracks near the end, turning into a high pitched whine, and he continues to struggle. I roll my eyes as Esposito and Ryan laugh, and glance down at the screen, which has gone black. I poke it and it lights back up, showing nothing but a screen full of numbers. Damn it, this thing requires a password. I look down at Castle, who smiles triumphantly.

"You'll never guess my password! Muah ha ha ha." His evil laugh ends in a squeak as Esposito sits down harder on his back. I roll my eyes and tap the numbers, "1,2,3,4". The screen lights up and I sigh, sincerely hoping he doesn't use the same numbers for his debit card PIN number. Knowing him he probably does.

I focus my attention on the screen, and everything else fades away. I'm looking at a drawing he made with his sketching app. "R.C. + K.B." is scrawled in his messy kindergartener handwriting, with a misshapen heart drawn around it. Next to the heart is a pair of stick figures holding hands: one with long hair and a stick-gun at her waist, the other tall with broad stick shoulders and messy hair. They both have upside-down v's for eyes, making them look asian, and big happy smiles. There is another little heart floating in the air between them.

Oh my God. I feel like I'm in grade school again. My heart is beating overtime and I'm fighting to keep a neutral expression, even though there's not really any point because I can feel my face heating up. My heart feels all fuzzy, and it's really irritating. I can feel all the defenses and rationalizations I've been building up for months start to crumble, and I slowly tear my eyes away from the screen and look down at Castle. Esposito lets him go, and he clambers to his feet wincing. I glance at Esposito and Ryan.

Ryan thinks fast.

"Uh…Javi, let's go look up that…that information we were supposed to find. For that one case. We'll see you later guys!" They grin and start ambling away. Esposito turns his head and winks, and I can feel my face get redder. I take a deep breath and look at Castle, who is edging away with his hands in his pockets and his eyes darting around, looking everywhere but at me. He looks like a sad puppy who just got hit on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. I can't believe what I am about to do.

"Castle, let's go get coffee." He looks up at me and swallows, looking nervous.

"Okay…after you." He follows me into the break room and I close the door, glancing around to make sure the window blinds are down. I turn to look at him, and he cringes back as though I am going to hit him.

"I'm sorry! Just forget about what you saw. I was just doodling. And, I mean…I...I didn't mean for you to see that! I'm−

"Castle, be quiet." I walk forward and reach for one of his hands, twining our fingers together. They fit together like puzzle pieces. His hand is soft and warm, and his fingers close tightly around mine as I look up at him. We are standing very close, which isn't unusual. What is unusual is the look in his eyes. I've only seen it once, two weeks ago when he stopped me from grabbing my gun and pulled me close. He has the same questioning look on his face now, and I answer it by reaching up to touch his face. He leans his cheek into my hand and opens his mouth to say something. I silence him with a finger against his lips, and slowly lean forward to whisper in his ear.

"I want that picture printed and framed."

I can feel him smiling, and he turns his face to look at me. His nose touches mine, and I breathe in his scent. He smells amazing, a mix of some sort of fancy cologne and something else that is uniquely his.

"Really?" His voice is deep and full of emotion. I look into his eyes, and then down at his lips. I've always thought he had the cutest mouth.

Closing my eyes I lean in and brush my lips against his. So soft, just like I remember them. My heart goes crazy and I can feel that wonderfully warm burning sensation spreading from the pit of my stomach all the way through my body. He's stroking my face and slowly moving his lips against mine, and suddenly I'm pressing him against the side of the espresso machine, one hand around his neck pulling him closer, and the other running through his soft hair, our mouths crashing together furiously. His hands are all over me and I gasp as he bites my lip. I nip him back, running my tongue lightly over his lower lip. He opens his mouth to me, slowly stroking his tongue over mine, and I can't think of anything but how good this feels. He suddenly grabs me and pushes me against the wall, breathing hard and trailing kisses down my neck until he finds my favorite spot. I moan softly.

"Castle…"

"Shhhhh." He trails kisses back up my neck until he reaches my lips, and lightly brushes them with his own, sending shivers down my spine. He then proceeds to feather light little kisses all over my face; on my forehead, my nose, my cheeks, my eyelids…it tickles and I laugh, burying my face into his neck to escape the assault. I love that he can make me laugh.

"Stop it!" His chest rumbles with laughter and he kisses my hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy. And relieved. I thought for sure you'd be mad." I pull away and look at him grinning. He's smiling from ear to ear, making his eyes crinkle at the corners.

I reach out and playfully grab his nose. "Who could be mad at that drawing? That's the most adorable thing I've ever seen."Suddenly I hear a cough behind us and we both spin around and jump apart. Esposito, Ryan and Lanie all have their heads poking into the doorway, and I can hear everyone else in the precinct excitedly chattering outside.

Lanie has a grin plastered onto her face. "I won the pool guys! Cough up the dough." Muttering angrily, Ryan and Esposito hand her wads of cash. She winks and shuts the door again, yelling out for the others who owe her money. I turn to Castle and shrug.

"We're busted." He grabs me into a warm hug and squeezes me so hard that I squeak.

"Do you think there's any way to sneak out quietly?" I sigh.

"Not a chance."


End file.
